• COMPLETE RESULTS

GOLD RIVER, Calif. – Seattle Pacific raced to a second-place performance in the women's novice eight event and finished sixth among varsity eights Sunday during the final day of the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships on Lake Natoma.
 
UC Irvine went wire-to-wire to win the novice eight competition, gaining a three-boat lead in the first 500 meters and concluding in an open-water victory with a time of 7-minutes, 18.30-seconds.
 
The Falcons battled crosstown rival Seattle University throughout the 2,000-meter race, but never relinquished the No. 2 position. They held a two-seat edge at the first quarter, but the Redhawks challenged to nearly draw even at 750 meters.
 
SPU immediately responded to that surge and moved to a six-seat advantage by the midway mark. At the finish, the Falcons stern was even with the SU bow. Their second-place time was 7:25.50 and the Redhawks crossed in 7:28.95.
 
UC San Diego placed fourth (7:29.37) followed by Orange Coast College (7:36.49) and Humboldt State (7:54.79).
 
Freshman coxswain Cecilia Krause directs the crew of first-year Falcons that has Alex Archambault, Haley Thompson, Madison Simmons, Jenafer Johanson, Hannah Todd, Kali Barlow, Katy Graham and Talia Ferguson pulling oars.
 
"Obviously we're really proud of the novice eight for coming home with a second-place finish, and it was within their ability to get the win," said second-year SPU coach Andrew Derrick. "We're really excited about them. They are such a great group of girls and we are happy to see them get to taste a little bit of success."
 
The SPU novices advanced to the grand final by virtue of an impressive open-water triumph and time of 7:36.12 in Saturday's heats.
 
Sunday's featured race for NCAA Division II boats was the varsity eight competition that also included Division III and Division I club crews. It produced a speedy grand final.
 
Top-ranked Central Oklahoma streaked off the start and led the entire way for a boat-length victory over UC Santa Barbara. UCO registered a time of 6:45.83 and Santa Barbara finished in 6:49.83.
 
The Falcons rowed in sixth place nearly the entire race, trailing a trio of boats by one-half length at the 750-meter mark. They were one length back by the midway point.
 
At the finish Western Washington crossed the line third with a time of 6:52.42, followed by UC San Diego in 6:55.96 and Puget Sound in 7:00.24. SPU finished with its bow on the Loggers' stern, posting a sixth-place time of 7:03.31.
 
SPU gained a spot in the grand final with a second-place time of 7:01.53 in heat racing a day earlier. The varsity finished two spots ahead of West Region rival Humboldt State.
 
"We hadn't raced Humboldt before this weekend, so getting in front of them in the heats was good," said Derrick. "We were shocked in the heat by the speed at which everybody else came out and we were able to survive it and move on.
 
"But we didn't take the lesson from that and apply it to the final. Once again we found ourselves out of the race early. We spent the majority of the race kind of reeling from not having a great first 500 (meters), which is not what we've done in other races this season."
 
The Falcons varsity eight is coxed by sophomore Jacqueline Kemp and includes Chloe Remley in the stroke seat along with rowers Kaitlin Dickinson, Gillian Edgar, Suzanne Stafford, Megan Chalfant, Samantha Kimmel, Natalie Beall and Amanda Larsen.
 
Derrick was disappointed his top crew was unable to build on the momentum of their last outing, the April 14 Falcon Regatta, in which SPU crossed the finish line with an open-water margin against Western Washington.
 
"The varsity eight never really fell into a rhythm this weekend and it definitely left us a little wanting. The West Region is very quick, but even if we couldn't get in front of some of those teams I would have liked to have seen us closer."
 
On Saturday, Seattle Pacific's third boat at the WIRA regatta narrowly missed qualifying for the varsity four grand final. Their third-place time of 8:23.74 would have been sufficient for a second-place qualifying position in either of the other two heats.
 
Instead, the Falcons four-oared crew competed in the petite final and proved to be the class of the field. They handily won the race by open water, clocking a time of 8:45.04.
 
"The four made tremendous improvement from just a couple weeks ago with a little bit of a change," Derrick described. "But the heats just didn't line up well and we didn't quite get the chance to line up next to our Division II competitors and see what kind of margins we could put down."
 
UC Santa Barbara crossed the finish line next in 8:49.83, leading the Washington State club crew (8:52.70), Puget Sound (8:55.19), Orange Coast (9:04.12) and Southern Oregon (9:17.78).
 
SPU's varsity four boat, steered by senior coxswain Simone Herzberg, was propelled by rowers Gracie Hoidal, Hannah Hutchinson, Laura Su and Brooklyn Liberato.
 
Western Washington, Central Oklahoma and UC San Diego finished one-two-three in the grand final for varsity fours.
 
Derrick was pleased to bring a three-boat fleet this weekend in the Sacramento area, especially the late decision to enter an eight-oared novice crew.
 
"We were really happy that we were able to bring a novice eight down here instead of just the novice four that we originally planned. For them to get that positive feedback is a really good thing and hopefully it's a big step towards building a deeper program.
 
"That's what bringing that boat was all about. We really hope to have more people being more competitive and fighting for seats next year than we had this year or certainly last year."
 
The Seattle Pacific crews continue the 2018 campaign on Saturday at the Windermere Cup. Racing begins at 10:20 a.m. on the Montlake Cut in Seattle. The Falcons are slated to send two eight-oared crews to the University of Washington-hosted event.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING
WIRA Championships
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Lake Natoma / Gold River, Calif.
(2,000-meter races)
 
RESULTS
 
Varsity Eight
Grand Final – 1, Central Oklahoma, 6:45.83; 2, UC Santa Barbara, 6:49.83; 3, Western Washington, 6:52.42; 4, UC San Diego, 6:55.96; 5, Puget Sound, 7:00.24; 6, Seattle Pacific, 7:03.31.
 
Petite Final -- 1, Humboldt State, 6:58.40; 2, California lightweight, 7:12.00; 3, Lewis & Clark, 7:13.94; 4, UC Davis, 7:15.99; 5, Mills, 7:26.09; 6, Oregon, 7:28.32.
 
      SPU varsity eight lineup:  cox–Jacqueline Kemp, stroke-Chloe Remley, 7-Kaitlin Dickinso, 6-Gillian Edgar, 5-Suzanne Stafford, 4-Megan Chalfant, 3-Samantha Kimmel, 2-Natalie Beall, bow-Amanda Larsen.
 
 
Novice Eight
Grand Final -- 1, UC Irvine, 7:18.30; 2, Seattle Pacific, 7:25.50; 3, Seattle University, 7:28.95; 4, UC San Diego, 7:29.37; 5, Orange Coast, 7:36.49; 6, Humboldt State, 7:54.79.
 
Petite Final -- 1, Chico State, 8:15.59; 2, UC Santa Barbara, 8:21.63; 3, Oregon, 8:30.56; 4, Mills, 8:30.96; 5, Southern Oregon, 8:30.97; 6, Washington State club, 8:50.54.
 
      SPU novice eight lineup:  cox–Cecilia Krause, stroke-Alex Archambault, 7-Haley Thompson, 6-Madison Simmons, 5-Jenafer Johanson, 4-Hannah Todd 3-Kali Barlow, 2-Katy Graham, bow-Talia Ferguson.
 
 
Varsity Four
Grand Final -- 1, Western Washington, 7:35.69; 2, Central Oklahoma, 7:40.31; 3, UC San Diego, 7:49.34 4, Humboldt State, 7:57.36; 5, Sonoma State, 8:00.20; 6, Long Beach State, 8:08.08.
 
Petite Final -- 1, Seattle Pacific, 8:45.04; 2, UC Santa Barbara, 8:49.83; 3, Washington State club, 8:52.70; 4, Puget Sound, 8:55.19; 5, Orange Coast, 9:04.12; 6, Southern Oregon, 9:17.78.
 
      SPU varsity four lineup:  cox–Simone Herzberg, stroke-Gracie Hoidal, 3-Hannah Hutchinson, 2-Laura Su, bow-Booklyn Liberato.
 
 
NEXT SPU REGATTA
Windermere Cup
May 5, 2018
Montlake Cut/Seattle, Wash.